


A Second Life. A Second Chance?

by SokaGirl



Series: The Peggy Diaries [1]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Everyone lives, F/M, Inhumans (Marvel), Look her up, Multi, Peggy as Medusa (The QUEEN of Inhumans), Peggy is inhuman, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Spoilers for AC/AoS/CACW, Steggy - Freeform, Steggy Positivity Week 2016
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7039273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SokaGirl/pseuds/SokaGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A vitimine mix-up leads to a De-Aged Inhuman Peggy and new hope for the MCU Characters. </p><p>Peggy Carter lived her life. Steve never got to live his. Now she's gone and both SHIELD and Avengers have fallen apart. Perhaps its time for all of them... TO DO AS PEGGY SAYS! Everyone just needs to sit own and talk to one another. Peggy is pretty much over all of this silent brooding. She's too old to listen to all of this nonsense goddammit! Even if she doesn't look it anymore! Perhaps it's a chance for Peggy to fix the mistakes of the past, if she can ever forgive herself. Perhaps then, she can have the life with Steve they both deserve? </p><p>Inspired by Steggy Positivity Week 2k16 - "AU/Crossover"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The End

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo.... I have never written fanfiction before. I've never even commented on it before. I have read it for years however and Steggy has caught my imagination. I'm very new at all of this. Saying that, I have this massive idea in my mind, a pretty fully formed AU going foreward. I wish Marvel would proceed in this way. Peggy deserves to live too dammit! 
> 
> This 'Steggy Positivity Week 2016' on tumblr, as well as the increadible writers/artists really inspired me. So yea, lets see what happens. If you have comments, constructive criticisms, edits, suggestion or whatever, please share! I'd love to hear feedback. I've written a few chapters already so lets see where this takes us. But first, we begin at the End.

Today was a rest day for her. She could peacefully remain in her bed. Staring out at the open sky. Read perhaps. Watch the News perha... Oh wait she was not to do that anymore. 'Too high stress' they kept telling her. Bloody rude in her opinion! At least she had no activities on her tiresome schedule. No wretched doctors were going to come poke at her tired body or push her fuzzy mind. It left space for Peggy Cater to feel terribly introspective. 

Looking back at her long life, she felt fatigue above all else. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was loosing the battle against her own damn mind. Peggy was less and less herself. Today, in a manner of speaking was a lucky day, she could still feel. She could still remember. Sometimes she spent days like today recounting her favourite missions. Or the Howling Commando's names, their families etc. Some days she spent reciting the birthdays of her children, grand children and the adorable little new ones that sometimes visited her. New branches growing on the Cater-Sousa tree. More names. New faces. Birthdays. Smiles. More and more. Yet. Less and less. 

It all made her head spin a little. Sometimes she wished for it all to go. Then at least she wouldn't be living in this constant dread. Who would come visit her next. A familiar stranger she half-remembered. All of them with that awful expression on their faces. Like approaching a bomb. She had actually done that. Many times. Perhaps they were forgetting that these days! But she had approached many an explosive, and been less scared then her visitors seemed to be. That look in their eyes, pity. She hated it! It reminded her of how people used to look at her back then. In those dark times after loss. Daniel. The Jarvises. Angie. Howard and Maria. Steve. Her dear Steve. All that death. Only her left now. 

Then again. Who could blame them. She was rather terrified herself in those moments. 

She often lost herself in time. Past and present melded into one so often that she got angry before she got confused. This did however lead so some rather amusing Interactions with the staff of her facility who kept telling her about their scandalous love lives. She would often forget and had spectacularly predicted many a break-up or patch-up. There was a particular young man she was rather fond of, who often brought her food and had a penchant for rakishly hansom men (who's pictures Peggy ALWAYS demanded to see - she was old, not dead!) who had started the trend among the younger staff of calling her 'Mystic Marge'. They would often come into her room and gossip. It kept Peggy occupied and her brain working - it helped that they were all SHIELD agents, there to protect her from anyone hoping to get their hands on the famous Director Carter. Plus to hear the romantic adventures of young people was always so amusing. Though she still disliked her given name and its many iterations, it never failed to remind of another hansom young man, once her friend, who loved to call her Marge. He was gone too. Taken too young. 

Wait.... Steve. Steve!!! He had visited last week. Or was it last month. She remembered him coming to talk to her. To his best girl. Laughable really. She was the head of the world's foremost spy organisation. The President and Prime Minister owed her a great deal of personal favours... She was far from a girl these days. Or..had it been a dream? She would NOT be pleased if that was the case! She reached over to the drawer attached to her bed and pulled out a book. Tony kept sending over technology to make her life better but even in her more sharper moments, she could never figure out those blasted things! Plus she treasured the smell of books. Couldn't replace it! She had yet to convince any Stark of this fact! 

Still she rifled through her notes till she found it. The note she had written for herself. 

'He's alive'.  
'Tell SHIELD. He's alive!' 

Her shaking hands passed over the paper, touching the words she had clearly written in a hurry! Under the words were a few dried water droplets.  
Then just the words:

TELL STARl 

Part of the word obscured by the tear stain. She chuckled in embarrassment at herself. Her tears had smudged the last letters of the work. Stark. 

 

So Howard found him! Excellent! His little boy would be so happy to finally meet Steve. He'd grown up hearing his tales of Heroics from Howard and sometimes, when he was an especially good boy (or when she was sad enough from being let down by Howard's absence for another science fair) Peggy would be persuaded to divulge a Captain America tale of her own. No one got to hear about Steve Rogers though. Not even Daniel. Not even he got to hear of about him in their nearly 2 decade marriage. Before he died. Before he left her. 

She frowned... She hadn't seen Tony in person for a few years now. Her and Howard's relationship was deteriorating. Along with his enormous ego, it was his desire for good which made him endearing to Peggy. Recently he had vested his time and efforts Into weapons manufacturing and had often advocated "research" on SHIELD property - particularly things recovered from Hydra. Her constant refusal had caused much friction. For a while she lamented her relationship with Tony in the process. He had reached his early Teens and hardly had a father. Maria was sweet. Always the caring wife and mother. Both Stark's were besotted with her. Yet she worried for Tony. Such a young boy with such a reckless father. One wondered the consequences. Nevertheless Steve would fix it. He would help Howard realise Capitalistic Greed had eaten away at his heart. He would be there for Tony. Even if she couldn't. 

"He's Alive" and with a smile she put away the book and feel into a dreamless sleep. 

 

A few hours later...  
'Mrs Cater?'  
No answer.  
'Mrs Carter?'

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From that day it all started.  
She went in her sleep.  
Steve, alive but left alone.  
The Sokovia Accords  
The mess that followed.  
A team ripped apart. A family destroyed. 

That won't do now will it!


	2. Strange Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury sends word, which sets off a series of odd events.

SOMEWHERE IN WAKANDA

'Steve. It's ok. The war is over. We can go home'

Steve bolted up. Breathing hard. Looking down at his hands a single tear drop fell onto his palm.

'She's gone'. He had to say it out loud into the darkened room. Just to ground himself in this reality, however unpleasent.

And now the war would never be over. He'd lost everyone.

Bucky was under ice again, half his team lost to him and even those who fought with him were growing tired of Wakanda. He, was a soldier. For him, this was all a duty. They were spies, agents, forces of nature. For them, it was a way of life. This routine, however stable it was for him, suffocated all of them. He had failed them. He had failed Bucky. Hell he had even failed Peggy. He had lost everything.

 

SHIELD HQ

*Knock Knock*

'Director May?' 

'Come in'. 

The door slung open and the Melinda's assistant dropped an envelope in front of her. 

'It came with this card'. 

Melinda May's eyes widened but not enough for her assistant to notice. He was a young agent. Eager to please as he was chatty. The fact that this was an irritant to May, he had to yet to figure out.

However he was her only choice. They were rebuilding. They seemed to be always rebuilding. This time it had been Hive. And Daisy. 

Now another change. Another Director. New infrastructure. More recruits. All of this while Phil and Mac were tracing Daisy. 

There was a card in front of her. She recognised it immediately as something from Fury. 'I've been wondering when you'd show up' she muttered to herself. She was expecting a debrief, the same think Coulson got... A "Black box". It had been months but nothing. Now here it finally was. Hopefully this would help her run this damn organisation. 

As she touched it, the card recognised her prints and on the back of the card Appeared the words: Wait for Coulson.

Just as she reached for the phone to tell her assistant to get Coulson the phone, it rang 'Agent Coulson and Mac have just arrived. Agent Coulson will be in shortly'. 

'Thanks'. She put down the phone and rolled her eyes 'Fury is my assistant now.. Huh? Thanks for the scheduling helping' she said to no one in particular. 

When Phil walked into the room she gave him a tight smile, one which he returned. It had been strange recently; with Andrew's death. Daisy's Departure, Lincoln. There were too many words unsaid between them. Yet Melinda just looked at him expectantly. 'Well?' 

'You called Director?' He replied with his typical smirk. Melinda wanted to punch something. She hadn't seen him in a while. 

'I thought you'd know something about this' she said as she extended the card to him. As soon as his landed on it, it beeped and so did the think in the envelope. On a card it read the words: Priority

'He really is a man of few words' May quipped.

'Yea That's something coming from you! Alright let's see what we've got' May pulled out what was inside. A tablet. 

Phil pulled a chair up and they both examined the information on it. 

 

There was a report. Of a facility in New York with shield operatives in it. Of older Agents being kept there for their own protection and for the Intel they had. Redacted Patients lists. Meal plans. Medical records and medication plans. 

Strange very strange. Lastly was an address and again #1Priority

'Well that's odd' Melinda muttered. 'Is this the black box of Shield Secrets?' 

'Umm.... Maybe? Let's go find out'


	3. The Safe House

They arrived that the remote facility a few hours later. The drive over had been enjoyable. Phil was enjoying May's grouches about the mundanity she was assaulted with every day. Rebuilding SHIELD was tedious work. Dealing with government officials was even more exhausting and she no longer had anyone to talk to about it all. What little she did talk. He was all she had left. 

Where they arrived seemed like a storage facility. But with the highest security possible. Perhaps they had come across a Fury secret! They both had a computer give them body scans, prints and voice tests. Then the card with Fury's message (if you could call it that!) was required. Finally, they were let in. 

It seemed like a house. Comfortable yet economical. Without much complex technology but a well-stocked kitchen. A safe house. Somewhere there were weapons and supplies hidden in a safe room. All a spy could ever need. As soon as they stepped into the open plan space, a video of Fury started playing on the large screen. 

'I've asked you both here you seem to be the experts on this topic these days. Don't I have a fun job for you! Agent Coulson, Director May, enter in your Shield Codes.' They looked around and found the remote and did just that. 

Another layer of security. What the hell was going on? 

A wall came down and they stepped in. Now it was just sound. It directed them to enter specific codes in orders only known to the highest level SHIELD Agents and another scan passed over them before finally a stasis pod was revealed. 

Lastly, Fury's voice assured them that it was safe to open the pod. It had been sealed to stop the process progressing and protect the participant and with that silence. Nothing. 

They stared at the opaque statis bloc in front of them. How to get in? There was just a slot. 'Coulson, try putting in the tablet. It fits.'   
As soon as it slotted into place they heard a female voice. Extolling the virtues and morals of SHIELD. Strong, determined, British. 

'Peggy Carter.That's Peggy Carter'. Coulson was confused. Suddenly hyper aware. Was this a joke? She had just died.   
'I remember that speech. I think we got it at graduation from the Academy. Remember Coulson? ' 

Oh yea Coulson remembered. He was starstruck by her. Peggy Carter. She had been formidable. A force of nature. Now she was gone. 'Why would Fury play that?' He wondered. 

May getting more and more agitated was in full defence mode. This wasn't the handover from Fury she had expected. She was now started to wonder if this was even Fury to begin with? Or a new and annoying trap she would have to deal with. 

They both started on as the statis pod opened and they saw a familiar sight. A near-vertical figure. Stone grey.   
'Terrigen'. Both of them on edge but remembering Fury's assurances of safety looked on in horror. Who the hell was this? 

May didn't fail to notice Phil's tiny movements, subconsciously positioning himself slightly ahead of her. This could end badly.   
They watched as the Statis's affects ended and the terragenesis processed continued. 'Go call for back up Phil'

May stood and continued to watch. Hand on her holster.   
He rushed back just as the stone began to crack. 'ETA 15 minutes'   
The stone slowly crumbled away and both the agents stared on in utter confusion. 

A woman. Perhaps 30ish, perhaps younger stared back at them. Long red hair flowing around her as she looked back at them. Equally confused. She stared down at herself. Her body covered in some nightgown thing. She couldn't stop staring at her hands. How soft they were. Smooth, no longer papery thin and crinkled, showing their age as they once had

She took a step forward. 'What...' And crumpled to the ground.   
Phil rushed forward to catch her. Propping her up and checking her pulse. She seemed alive. He stared back at May. With a look of utter confusion on his face, 'I think this is Peggy Carter 70 years ago'.


	4. The cocoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peggy is in observation. Someone is very excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a long chapter. More SHIELD characters than Peggy. We're getting there ;)

Peggy felt light. Weightless almost. Yet she could feel so much more of herself. So hyper aware that she could feel the very ends of her hair; all the while floating in darkness. 

She wondered if she had died. She felt like she heard voices. Some British. Some American. Confusion. Excitement. Fear. Determination. Joy. It all swirled around her in a cocoon. Obscuring her view. Shielding her from the outside world. SHIELD. Now that meant something. She swears she hears her family, British as could be. But weren't they all dead now? Wasn't she? Was this death? Hushed voices and muffled words. Nothing was sharp anymore. Sometimes she heard steady beeps, playing out a familiar melody. All soft corner and round edges. That was her mind. Who knows what was going on with her body. 

 

'Gemma! Don't touch her! What are you doing?' Fitz was surprised. Gemma was an exceptionally professional medic. What the hell was she thinking? 

'But Fitz! It's Peggy Carter! She's here in my lab. Seriously. It's THE PEGGY CARTER' Gemma Simmons had never been more excited in her life. (Well there was the other night where Fitz tried that thing.... That had made her pretty excited. But that was another matter altogether!) 

'Y'know I didn't know she had red hair? Her pictures all show her as a brunette. Maybe I'll dye my hair that colour. Or would it be too obvious?' Fitz listened to her ramble to herself, with his best attempt to remain professional. The fact that She was such a big fan of the legendary agent was extremely cute to Fitz. He was trying his best to act strict but inside he was melting. 'Gemma...' He said in his sternest voice. All the while his eyes sparkling. Just as he was about to say something... 

'So what have you found?' Coulson as he briskly walked into the lab. 

'Sir we have seen plenty of brain activity. The coma seems to be a result of the body's extreme regeneration. Hopefully not permanent'. Simmons explained. 

Coulson looked slightly relieved, 'So is it her?' 

Fitz, 'we're doing extensive tests to make sure she is 100% Agent Peggy Carter and not something else. But from preliminary tests it seems like it' Gemma interrupted, 'But she isn't exactly human anymore. What you and Director May described was terregenesis. She seems to have inhuman DNA

'What I don't understand is how she was announced dead and had an actual funeral?' Fitz looked confused. Surely this wasn't SHIELD's doing? They'd been pretty busy dealing with HIVE and that whole mess with Daisy at the time. 

'I mean her funeral wasn't even open to agents' Gemma exclaimed. She still wasn't over it. Muttering to herself, 'small and private my foot, she's the founder of SHIELD!'

'Well May and I have been doing some digging. She was being taken care of in a deep SHIELD operation that cared for previous top level agents. It was personally supervised by Agent Hill and Fury. Off books. Protection of Intel and SHIELD secrets, In case y'know, what happened, were to happen.' The revelation that Hydra had been part of SHIELD was just long enough in the past that Coulson could say such a thing with a smirk on his face, not a glower. 'Anyway Mac has gone to investigate, we'll find out soon enough what caused this'. 

'So you didn't go to my funeral, that's all well and good, but who the hell are you people' The words came out of Peggy's mouth in a rasp. The syllables either too loud or too soft. Like someone who was remembering to use their voice after a long time. Peggy had been drifting in and out of conciseness and was getting more and more confused. These were not the staff, this was not her room. It was not the facility she now called home. What on earth was going on?! Looking down at herself she saw an unfamiliar sight. Her eyes flickered shut. Not quite ready for any more just yet. Becoming more and more aware of herself, she realised that her joints were once more free in their movement. Not clamped tight with age. She felt the blood running through her veins, the energy coursing through her like electricity. She could feel her very atoms. Something was wrong. Such comfort in her own body was nothing more than a distant memory. Had been so for many years. Decades even. Then there was this unsettling shift working its way through her. Pulling her apart and putting her back together again. Something was very very wrong. 

Her body became taught. Willing herself to action, Peggy tried to get up. However, as alive as her body felt, her muscles quickly gave way, too week to even push away the blankets covering her. Then, quite oddly her hair started to move. As if some other muscle in her body, locks of it starting struggling too. This was not what she expected. The three agents too looked on in shock as they saw her hair move, trying to wrap itself, quite viciously, around empty space. Grasping out. Thick and fully of power yet to be harnessed. 

'Agent Carter' 'Agent Carter!' Gemma was trying to get to her, as all three of them stepped back, fearing some sort of violent outburst.  
'Ms Carter! Please focus!! You are safe!'  
She was slowing, more out of tiredness than compliance  
'This is SHIELD, Peggy you're with SHIELD!!' Simmons was trying her best to calm her as Fitz scrambled to get some sedatives. Those words seemed to get her attention, yet to everyone's surprise her face further contorted in anger and fear. Eyes opening in slits. Her efforts to reach out to them against the will and ability of her body to do so redoubled. 

'Agent Fitz, Sedate her'.  
She tried to speak out, 'Hydra Hydra. Hydra. HYDRA!', The only thing her mind could conjure up.  
Before Fitz could inject her, Peggy sunk back into bed. Passed out with exhaustion. 

'Well that's interesting. Fitz, Simmons, move her into once of the white chambers so we can monitor her. We're going to need to figure out exactly what her abilities are and also determine her mental state. Her body just de-aged over 60 years, has powers and she seems to not like the idea of SHIELD. We will need her in a secure environment, for her safety as much as our own.' 

'But sir this is Agent Peggy Carter!?' All Gemma could think of was Daisy, as how a similar transformation had lead to a series of events leading her to now be lost to them. 

'I know. I am as much a fan as you Simmons, but we need to do this. After Hive, Andrew, after loosing Lincoln and then Daisy walking away, we need to be careful. We've lost too many people Gemma. We need to be careful. Just monitor her health, we'll take it from there.'


	5. Self-Awarness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peggy Wakes Up in the SHIELD containment chamber to some interesting discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! That took long! Well let's see where this takes us... it's still all in my head. Just need to get it down! 
> 
> Recap: post CW and AoS season 3. Peggy died. CW happened. Lincon died, Sky left. May became director. 
> 
> What's going on with Peggy??

Her body was buzzing by the time she became fully conscious. She ached with a bone deep tiredness she had not felt before. Yet her skin was crawling. Every atom in her body active with energy. She could feel her every part of her putting it self back together again. 

It was exhausting and exhilarating all at once.   
Peggy wondered if it was worth opening her eyes just yet. She didn't feel quite ready to do it. She was certain something had profoundly changed (was still changing?) both inside her and out. Yet she felt ill equipped to deal with it. She was pretty sure she was at the least in an unknown situation, pretty likely in danger and she didn't know if she was really in the mood for all of this at 95 years old. All this spy nonsense was a little ridiculous at this point. She was old dammit! They should really leave her the bloody hell alone. 

Signing she willed herself to open her eyes just a crack.   
White. That was all she saw around her. She was in a bed, not similar to the one she had been in before this whole mess.   
She looked around and noticed she was in a room with a little space for her to walk around. It was padded white. She noticed the cameras almost immediately. 

So she was being observed. As expected.   
There was a door with seemed to be sealed shut with security.

She noticed a panel next to it. Perhaps she should try and push some buttons. A few of the youngest generation of her family had attempted to teach her a little something about computers. She hadn't particularly payed attention, mostly getting irritated at them. What had they called it, hacking. Yes. That's what they did these days. Seemingly cutting through some wall? She really didn't remember much. There was something mentioned about fire. And rhythms perhaps? What had happened to good old punching? That's what she could not understand. 

Well she'd unfortunately just have to wait on the escape front for now. Till her captors made a move. 

Till them she had a chance to examine herself. She know her body had changed. Her bones, like newly oiled hinges, were loose. Age no longer seemed to grip them. How odd!? 

She looked down as herself and to her shock, her hands no longer showed the makers of time. No longer white and shaking with age. 

She her arms, her chest and face seemed soft to the touch, plump and vital. 

She felt strong. She felt young. 

Suddenly she became aware of extremities unknown to her senses before... her hair? Her hair was red!? What on earth!   
It flexed and moved as she did. Moving more and more as her agitation grew. Well that was new.... 

Whatever had happened to her, she certainly knew it was quite a profound 

Well what the bloody hell!!   
And with that, exhaustion overtook her once more and she passed out. Back into a fitful sleep.


End file.
